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Team Sears chasing Cannonball win with Mountain Courage

30 October 2019

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By Glenn Davis

Co-trainer Maddy Sears is hoping Mountain Courage can prove the perfect tonic for a recent mishap in the opening leg of the Cannonball Series which gets underway at Kilcoy on Friday.

Sears, who trains in partnership with her father Tony Sears at Toowoomba, underwent surgery on Saturday after a window shattered in her home and badly cut her arm.

She had just come out of surgery when apprentice Corey Bayliss booted home the Sears-trained Spirit One who led all the way at Eagle Farm last Saturday.

“I’m really lucky it wasn’t more serious,” Sears said.

“I was resting in bed on Friday afternoon when one of my dogs started playing up outside and I tapped on the window to keep him quiet.

“The window shattered and cut my right arm and I had to call the ambulance myself as Mum was on a flight back home which had been delayed.

“I ended up with 30 stitches internally and externally but luckily the artery wasn’t severed but I may have some tendon damage.”

Sears, who will be in a cast for up to six weeks, is confident Mountain Courage will take plenty of beating in the Cannonball Series.

“He should run very well and it’s not one of the hottest fields we’ve seen,” she said.

“He’s won at Kilcoy which is a bonus.”

Mountain Courage has been racing consistently and has placed at his past three starts including a last start third to Papa Jo over 870 metres at Toowoomba on September 28.

The Cannonball Series comprises three heats and a final with Toowoomba hosting the second heat, a $19,000 Benchmark 68 Handicap (870m) on November 9.

The final heat, a $19,000 Benchmark 68 Handicap (860m) will be run at Gatton on November 21 followed by the $30,000 Cannonball Series Final (800m) at Kilcoy on November 30.

A $10,000 bonus also is on offer for any horse who wins two heats and the final.

Last year’s Cannonball Series final was won the Kevin Kemp-trained Zouzoukakia who is owned by the Kilcoy Racing Club president, Con Searle.

Searle is the major sponsor of the Cannonball Series opener via his Searles Garden Products.

Racing Queensland webnews   October 30